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Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002
Posted by: Michael Gochfeld (gochfeld@eohsi.rutgers.edu)

I agree with Linn Haramis that perception becomes reality, especially for those on the front lines. When I was in the State Health Department, SLE was a public concern in NJ It's all but forgotten now.

But the good news is that WNV is also all but forgotten in NJ in 2002.

There are likely to be regional differences in the epizootiology of WNV, and temporal changes may occur as the virus itself evolves to its new surroundings.

The point Linn mentioned, about new risks being more feared than familiar ones, is well-established and goes back to a series of risk perception dichotomies that Baruch Fischoff assembled in the late 1960's. But he also mentioned MEDIA HYPE as one of the four factors contributing to concern or confusion or contradiction. HYPE has been a serious problem for the public and public health community. There are some obvious reasons that WNV lends itself to media hype, but with all the good and growing information about WNV it's not clear why the hype isn't more accurate (maybe it is in Illinois). The message in NYC in 1999 was of the form---"you are helpless, stay indoors and hold your breath while we spray some more".

I was intrigued with the mention of dead squirrels. I presume these weren't road kills. There are certain years where squirrels engage in what seems like a Lemming-like movement, when they are killed on highways in great abundance. Then a decade goes by and not much happens. In the northeast, where two mild winters and abundant acorn crops contributed to squirrel population expansion, the number of road-killed squirrels has increased. Of course, animals afflicted with CNS infection might be more likely to get killed on roads. I can't recall whether there were any squirrel deaths from WNV in NJ in 2000.

Mike Gochfeld

PS: I'll wager "this too shall pass". But it's certainly interesting while it lasts.

LINN HARAMIS wrote:

One comment about relative risk:

IMO, WNV is more "fear-inducing" to the public than SLE. One factor is that one does not find dead animals in one's front yard (or a sick horse in the stable) with SLE. (I personally found 2 dead crows near my home in central IL.) Unless there are human cases, SLE can cycle along in the wild bird population without the public being aware of it. In recent years, SLE has been detected in birds and mosquitoes from NE IL, but there have been no confirmed cases in IL since 1995. During late August, we were receiving 25-40 emails a day from the public, plus we had to have 3 additional staff answer telephone calls from the public about WNV. Some local health dept telephone lines were nearly shut down by the volume of telephone calls.

Secondly, sometimes perception is reality. Frankly, just telling the public that "WNV isn't so bad compared to -fill in the blank-" probably would not have been acceptable to most callers. This is in part to

1. dead birds (horses and some squirrels) appearing near people's homes

2. public info to citizens from health depts that attempted to get individuals to use personal protection measures (if it isn't so bad, why bother with that stinky DEET)

3. Media hype - For example, after the FIRST documented canine case in the US was identified in IL, there were multiple TV news stories about "WNV and your pet." This is despite the circumstantial evidence that WNV is at most, a minor disease to cats and dogs.

4. Contradictory statements, like "we don't see many mosquitoes" from various sources. What the individual means is that they did not see many FLOODWATER MOSQUITOES, because the public associates "lots of mosquitoes" with "lots of disease", an assumption that for SLE and WNV in the upper Midwest is not necessarily true.

If you have ever attended a seminar on risk perception, risks that are new or unusual are perceived as being more dangerous than everyday risks. Also, if you review IDPH's news releases, the Dept consistently tried to emphasize that the relative risk to individuals was low. (But plenty serious if you were one of the unlucky few) One may know that, but as a public agency, we really do not have any choice but to respond to public inquiries.

A word of warning to local agencies in urban areas where WNV has NOT yet appeared: assume that you will receive MANY public inquiries when WNV appears. We knew the storm was coming and prepared for it, but it still was hard to handle all the calls and emails.

NOTE: The opinions expressed above are mine and not necessarily my employer's.

From:
Linn David Haramis, Ph.D.,
Entomologist / Vector Control Program Manager
Illinois Department of Public Health
Division of Environmental Health
525 W. Jefferson St.
Springfield, IL 62761
217-782-5830
Fax: 217-785-0253
LHARAMIS@IDPH.STATE.IL.US

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